Building component and method of making the same

ABSTRACT

This building component includes a peripheral sidewall and upper and lower walls forming a casing; a core of shredded waste material and an exterior plastic skin covering the casing. The method of making the component includes the steps of filling a peripheral form with shredded waste material, closing the form at the upper and lower ends incorporating it into the component by applying a reinforced plastic binder over the closed form.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a division of copending application Ser. No.826,323, filed Aug. 22, 1977 now abandoned, entitled Building Componentand Method of Making the Same.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates generally to a building component andparticularly to a multipurpose component having a reinforced plasticskin over a built-in form.

Among the desirable characteristics for building components,particularly those of rather large size such as 8 feet by 4 feet panels,are strength, lightness, resistance to corrosion, sound and heatinsulation, fire resistance, inexpensive manufacture, low installationcost and the ability to be used for inside or outside work. Plywood hassome of these qualities; it is lightweight and relatively strong, but itis deficient in insulation and fire resistance, requires specialtreatment for outside use and is costly to install. Gypsum board is afairly good insulator when used in drywall frame construction, but it isrelatively heavy and has little structural strength. Various compositepanels are known which employ a urethane foam core with an outer skin ofsteel or preformed plastic but these tend to be special purpose panelswhich are expensive to manufacture.

The present component avoids the disadvantages inherent in known priorart components.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This building component is strong and lightweight and has superior fireresistance and insulation qualities. It can be readily made from wastematerials and is therefore inexpensive to manufacture.

This component can be used for outside construction and is particularlyuseful in the construction of service buildings, such as warehouses. Itcan also be used for inside construction where it finds particular useas a heat and sound insulating panel. It is rigid and the strength canbe readily controlled. In addition, it is sufficiently lightweight thatone 8 feet×4 feet×6 inch panel can be handled by one man.

This building component consists of a form of sheet material; aninterior core of shredded material and an exterior skin of a reinforcedplastic binder such as fiberglass reinforced resin. The form includes aperipheral sidewall and upper and lower walls which cooperate to form aclosed casing beneath the exterior skin.

The sheet material providing the form casing is of cardboard or similarmaterial and the interior core is of shredded waste material such asfiberglass or the like, and the reinforced plastic binder is partiallyabsorbed through the cardboard to contact the interior core in adhesiverelation.

The method of making the building component comprises the steps ofplacing a bottom layer on a work table; placing a sidewall form on topof the bottom layer; filling the sidewall form with core material;placing a top layer on the sidewall form and applying a reinforcedplastic binder to the upper, lower and side surfaces.

The bottom layer of the component is a flat sheet having portionsextending outwardly of the sidewall and being folded in overlappingrelation with said sidewall and being adhesively secured to the sidewallby the reinforced plastic binder.

This building component is relatively inexpensive to manufacture and canbe at least partially formed from recycled and waste material whichwould otherwise provide a difficult disposal problem. Further, it isreadily adaptable, in whole or in part to manufacture by automatic orsemi-automatic mass production techniques as well as manufacture byhand.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 is a perspective, somewhat diagrammatic view illustrating thefirst stage of the method of producing the building component;

FIG. 2 is a similar view illustrating the second stage;

FIG. 3 is a similar view illustrating the third stage;

FIG. 4 is a similar view illustrating the fourth stage;

FIG. 5 is a similar view illustrating the fifth stage and showing thefinished component;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view which illustrates the manner in which twocomponents are joined together;

FIG. 7 is a similar view which illustrates an alternative method ofjoining two components together;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a modified component;

FIGS. 9, 10 and 11 are perspective views illustrating various componentconfigurations; and

FIG. 12 is an enlarged fragmentary cross sectional view of a componenthaving a reinforced core.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring now by reference numerals to the drawing and first to FIGS. 1through 5, it will be understood that FIG. 1 illustrates the initialphase of producing the building component in a somewhat diagrammaticform. Essentially, as shown in FIG. 1 a flat sheet 12 is disposed on awork table 10. The sheet 12 constitutes a bottom layer and in theembodiment shown is of cardboard or the like. A peripheral sidewall form14, having a generally rectangular configuration and formed from similarsheet material, is disposed on top of the sheet 12. As will be observedsheet 12 is substantially larger in area than the sidewall form 14 andextends beyond said sidewall form on each of the four sides.

As shown in FIG. 2, the open box configuration formed by the bottomsheet 12 and the sidewall form 14 is filled with a fragmented materialsuch as shredded waste fiberglass rubber, or sawdust or the likeindicated by numeral 16, which constitutes core material. After the openbox has been filled a top sheet 18, see FIG. 3, also of similar materialto the bottom sheet 12 and having a size corresponding substantially tothe dimensions across the sidewall form 14 is disposed on top of saidsidewall form to form a closed casing. Following this operation the topsheet 16 and sidewall form 14 are coated with a plastic reinforcedbinder from nozzles 20. The reinforced plastic binder effectively sealsand adheres the parts together and forms a rigid exterior skin. Theplastic reinforced binder may be formed from any of a number ofdifferent resins, such as polyester, epoxy, polyurethane and the like inconjunction with the appropriate catalyst and reinforced with syntheticor natural fibers. By way of example it will be assumed that a plasticreinforced binder, of the type well known in the automobile and boatingindustry for forming automobile bodies and boat hulls, is used suchbinder being sprayed from a gun represented in FIG. 3 by nozzle 20. Thegun delivers converging streams of resin and fiberglass particles whichhave been chopped from a continuous spool fed strand prior to beingissued from the nozzle 20. Following this initial coating operation, asshown in FIG. 4, portions of the bottom sheet 12 indicated respectivelyby numerals 22 and 24, are folded upwardly to form side flaps 22 and 24respectively, which are temporarily attached to the sidewall form 14 asby staples (not shown). The flaps are then sprayed to provide acompleted box. After the completion of this operation the component isinverted and the bottom thereof is then coated as by spraying with theresin and fiberglass composition from nozzles 20. After this final stagethe finished component indicated by numeral 30 is ready for use.

Importantly, the cardboard forming the casing should be of a thicknessand density which will permit the plastic binder to be absorbed throughit into adhering contact with the shredded fiberglass waster materialforming the core of the component 30. Recycled cardboard having athickness of about 60 mils has been found satisfactory for this purpose.Other materials, including fiberglass sheets and hardboard or otherfibrous material can be used.

If it is desired to join one or more of the components 30 together thisis accomplished, as shown in FIG. 6, by wrapping a strip of fiberglassmatting tape indicated by numeral 32 around the joint and spraying orotherwise coating the tape joining the two components with thereinforced plastic binder. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 7 modifiedcomponents indicated by numerals 130 may be used having preformedinterlocking portions 134 and 136 which can be coated with thereinforced binder to ensure a strong joint.

It will be understood that the strength of the product is derived fromthe reinforced plastic binder forming the sealed exterior skin andpenetrating into the interior through the relatively weak outer casing.As shown in the modified component 20 of FIG. 8, the outer casing of thecomponent can be reinforced with fiberglass matting web indicated bynumeral 38, which when coated with the resin binder, results in anextremely strong and durable component. As also shown in FIG. 8 the thinwall casing can be provided with perforations generally indicated bynumeral 40 (shown enlarged for clarity) to ensure adequate absorption ofthe binder therethrough.

FIGS. 9, 10 and 11 illustrate various configurations into which a basicrectangular component can be formed. FIG. 9 shows a component 330 whichis curved lengthwise for providing an arch structure. FIG. 10 shows asimilar arched component 430 curved widthwise and FIG. 11 shows a domedcomponent 530. It will be understood that the curvature can be achievedby providing a suitable supplementary support on the table and byproviding a sidewall form with built in curvature.

FIG. 12 illustrates an internally reinforced component 650. Essentially,except for the placing of the corrugated reinforcing members, the methodof manufacturing this component is similar to that described above withrespect to component 30. One or more layers of lengthwise extendingcorrugated bracing members such as those indicated by numerals 652 and660 can be used, said members being separated by an intermediate panel656. Briefly, a first layer of core material indicated by numeral 650 isdisposed within the form 614 lying above the bottom sheet 612 and thecorrugated bracing member 652 is disposed on top of said core material.A second layer of core material 654 is disposed above the corrugatedbracing member 652 followed by the intermediate panel 656. Thereinforced plastic binder material is then sprayed or otherwise appliedto the intermediate panel 656. The same procedure is followed withrespect to the core material 658, the corrugated bracing member 660 andthe core material 662, following which the top sheet 618 is placed inposition. The remaining procedure is substantially as described withrespect to the component 30. It will be understood that the upper facesof the corrugated members 652 and 656 can have binder applied to themfor additional strength if desired.

It will be readily understood that the wool-like consistency of corematerial such as shredded waste fiberglass provides a lightweightcomponent which can be used for flotation devices such as boat docks,piers, stationary swimming-diving rafts and the like. If desired thecomponents can be sprayed while under compression. This results in anextremely rigid and self-supporting structural component, which can beused as a structural beam member for items such as railroad ties.

If desired, a bottom layer which consists of a parting agent in lieu ofthe cardboard bottom sheet 12 can be used and the table invertedfollowing the spraying of the top and sides so that the open bottom canthen be sprayed with the fiberglass composition.

It will also be readily understood that the method is subject toconveyor belt operation when high production is required. In thisinstance the nozzles 20 shown in FIGS. 3 and 5 will be provided bydifferent sets of nozzles at different stations and the work table 10will be substituted by a conveyor belt.

I claim as my invention:
 1. A method of making a building componentcomprising the steps of:(a) placing a bottom layer on a work surface,(b) preforming a sidewall form, (c) placing said sidewall form on top ofthe bottom layer, (d) placing core material in the sidewall form, (e)placing a top layer on the sidewall form, (f) applying a plastic binderreinforced with fiber strand particles to the upper, lower and sidesurfaces to provide a substantially rigid exterior skin completelysealing and adhering the parts together, (g) providing a flat sheet forthe bottom layer, (h) extending portions of the bottom sheet outwardlyof the sidewall form, (i) folding the outwardly extending sheet portionsinto overlapping relation with the sidewall form, and (j) applyingplastic binder reinforced with fiber strand particles to the foldedportions.